Church fills 100-plus backpacks with food

SANFORD — Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sanford recently filled 100 backpacks with food to donate to local schools’ “Sanford Backpack Program.”

Ayn Hanselmann, who coordinates donations for the program, contacted church member Jen Davie in late January and asked if the church would be able to help. Sanford Junior High School Nurse Anne Garnsey successfully launched the program a couple of years ago as a way to help local students who suffer from “food insecurity” while at home during the weekends. “Food insecurity” is defined by The World Health Organization as a lack of “sufficient, safe and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.”

Bishop Rex Farrer assigned his congregation at the church the task of filling 100 backpacks of food within a five-week period. Davie worked with the congregation to operate a food drive in February.

Within the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there is youth program in which young women work on various community-service projects as a requirement. Group members Skyla Lipert and Caitlin Burke decided that this backpack project was a worthy cause, and each week they took inventory to update the congregation (and community) of the most imminent needs, as well as organize the food. In addition to their help, Ella Davie decided that she would like to work on this project as well for certification for the pre-youth program within the church.

Sure enough, within a five-week period, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with help from many others within the community, were able to meet the 100-backpack challenge; in fact, they actually exceeded the challenge by filling an additional five large boxes with food staples for the program. This food will be donated to Sanford Junior High School, which is acting as a food pantry for the districtwide program.

If you would like more information about youth community service opportunities, please call 207-408-3527. If you would like to donate food to this program, please contact Anne Garnsey at 324-3114.